THE CONLIN COMPANY

Sheila Conlin is best known as the driving force behind creating the criteria, systems and approach to casting for reality television. Her ability to identify the unique talents and skills found in each of us and mold unscripted ensemble casts that propel a concept forward has established her as one of the seminal figures in the development of the reality television format.

It has always been Sheila’s passion to discover and nurture the unique talents that make up a great reality cast. To help her harness her own passion, she created Breaking Into Reality, a way for everybody who believes they are the next great unscripted talent to discover if they truly have what it takes.

Conlin also owns and operates The Conlin Company, a full-service casting, development, and production company in Los Angeles, with additional resources in New York and Europe. Conlin specializes in casting and development of unscripted television shows and host and expert casting.

Conlin has functioned in virtually every aspect of production: executive producer, producer, story producer, associate producer, line production, production manager, and director of talent development and research. She has served as a producer and/or casting director for some of the most successful unscripted series on primetime network reality programming.

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“We always set up for a big marketing and advertising push, but I still truly believe in the grassroots element, which is picking up the phone and asking, “Who do you know, who’s this, who’s that?” Of course, by now, my database is huge and I can reach out to many people, but we still pick up the phone, call someone in Des Moines, Iowa, and ask, “Who’s the prettiest girl in your town that’s single?”

“As far as people writing pages every day for people to say, that’s not happening…We’re not writing scripts. But the overall show has a structure….The writing is definitely happening in setting the outline and then guiding it,” Conlin says.